I know that there's members here who have knowledge of the goings-on in Japan, so I'm hoping to get an answer.

I had a conversation today with a couple of trainers here at Santa Anita that pretty much scoffed at me for suggesting that Forty Niner was still alive......like a horse can't live to 30 years of age.

Forty Niner was a horse with a name in No America, and I can't believe that he would have died without any mention in stateside media. Ferdinand was an abject failure at stud and drifted into oblivion...ultimately to a slaughterhouse. Forty Niner had some success in Japan. He was certainly no Sunday Silence, but he did enough there to keep him from being served up on somebody's dinner plate.

Sorry for the rambling there....is Forty Niner still alive, and if so, where is he now? That's my question.

Thanks for the responses. I realize that I probably should have posted this question in the "Stallion News" thread, so I apologize for that.

I love Forty Niner. I have to say that I've never been able to forgive Stephens for sacrificing him in that 1988 Preakness. And the thing that makes it really bad is that he said that that was his intent and his strategy before the race. It isn't about Winning Colors for me.....it's about Forty Niner. He was a champion, and he deserved to be treated better than that. Nobody was beating Risen Star that day, so it made little difference in the outcome.....but still...

I'm a huge lover of Claiborne, but when they sold Forty Niner over the Pacific Pond, it broke my heart. I do know that Michael Blowen of Old Friends tried for several years to bring him home, but Japan was having none of it. Blowen probably gave up when Forty Niner's age made it impossible to for him to make the trip.

Naoya Yoshida (of Winchester Farm at Lexington KY) has posted a new pick of Forty Niner(USA) which turned 30.As Yoshida tweeted, Forty Niner is in good shape and looks very young! WOW!!(Thanks Mr Yoshida for posting the photo!!!)

I'm glad that Forty Niner is clearly a pampered pensioner....and also glad that he wasn't shipped back to Old Friends.With all due respect to Blowen and the dedicated staff at OF, I've never been in favor of shipping senior stallions halfway around the world, just so some fans can see them in Kentucky. IMHO, Silver Charm could have stayed in Japan, where he was treated like a star, instead of being moved away from a place HE had come to know as HOME. Is a drafty old barn and muddy field in Kentucky really better for him?Alysheba only lived a few months after he was shipped back to Kentucky. Would it have been better for him to have stayed in the Royal Stables in Saudi Arabia, even if it meant not getting a few cute photos of him with his former jockey or trainer?